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Shoppable Groceries: A Recipe For Ecommerce Success

Food is one of the most meaningful pleasures that we experience as people. It is culturally important, as well as nourishing. From the yearly ritual of a birthday cake, to the healthy dinner that you prepare for your family; you are what you eat.

According to the Food Marketing Institute, 49% of U.S. consumers shop for groceries online. The same study suggested that by 2022 consumers could be spending 100 billion dollars on online groceries per year. In as little as 5 to 7 years, 70% of U.S. shoppers will regularly purchase food online. These numbers for shoppable groceries are not insignificant. If you’re going to convert shoppers to your product then you’re going to need to chew over your strategy.

The landscape of food is changing in the digital age due to new innovations, a change in culture around eating and the convenience of online grocery shopping. Shoppable groceries are more prominent than ever. So what is driving change in the digital food landscape?

Meaningful Digital Food Experiences

Meaningful experiences with food are essential to creating a lasting positive impression on consumers. From AI-powered smart refrigerators, to being able to connect your recipe content to omnichannel online retailers, it has never been so convenient to make your brand shoppable.

Platforms are now giving users the option to personalise their favourite recipes, shop online for ingredients and facilitate the entire experience for consumers.

Innovations such as AI-powered smart fridges are the new technology that offers a leading online experience while facilitating life offline. The LG SmartThinQ Refrigerator is a seamlessly connected fridge with a specialised camera that allows you to see the contents of your fridge without you even having to be in the room. This changes the game for online grocery shopping. You’re now able to create a meal plan, make a grocery list and purchase those ingredients entirely through online retailers.

Major online retailers for groceries such as Tesco, Amazon and Sainsbury’s all stand to benefit from this development in zero user interface marketing. It’s finally possible to finish the weekly shop from anywhere with an internet connection.

An Oat-rageous Example of Where to Buy

Take Quaker Oats, on their website you’re able to view two different ways of making the same recipe for overnight oats. The first one, ‘Take It Home’, gives shoppers the option to buy ready-made overnight oats from the brand. The second option, ‘Make At Home’, gives shoppers the recipe list to create their own customizable overnight oats at home using Quaker Oats.

This gives shoppers the flexibility to choose which Quaker product better suits their lifestyle and needs. Not only this, but Quaker Oats uses Where to Buy technology to make the online customer journey for shoppable groceries as seamless as possible.

This technology not only shortens and streamlines the buying experience but allows brands such as Quaker Oats to track their sales on campaigns, right through to final purchase on a retailers site.

Shoppers are able to search where goods are in stock and complete their online shopping through only a few clicks. It’s simple for shoppers to add extras to their cart and complete their experience online through retailers that are curated by the brand.

Every click, lead and sale through our service is analysed and provides valuable insights like product data and purchasing trends. This helps brands understand which content has the highest sales impact so you can focus your marketing budget. You can create positive feedback and watch your conversion numbers soar!

Make It Easy With Shoppable Groceries

As culinary guru Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, always says: ‘How easy is that?’ Although the Barefoot Contessa wasn’t talking about Amazon Prime and Wholefoods she should have been.

Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon in June 2017 in a 13.7 billion dollar merger that altered the grocery industry. According to Business Insider, John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, described the merger as ‘love at first sight’ from the very moment that the companies had met six weeks prior on a ‘blind date’.

Romantic endeavors aside, Amazon used capital to purchase a physical retailer but they were thinking beyond brick and mortar stores. This acquisition had little to do with the physical stores and everything to do with online opportunities. Amazon needed to grow revenue and marketing fresh groceries online was an untapped resource for them.

Fresh food sales online have been steadily increasing over time, but this decision has brought fresh groceries to online consumers in a big way. With a total of 20% of grocery retail to move online by 2025, it is estimated by Nielsen that this will amount to a total of $100 billion in consumer sales.

This daring acquisition brought Amazon growth while providing consumers with affordable and convenient groceries online. Creating a clear shoppable path online is the perfect way to increase conversion. Adding perks for being members of Amazon Prime only sweetens the deal for both consumers and Amazon.

Think Beyond Avocado Toast

Shoppable groceries are a huge opportunity for brands to create a seamless omnichannel experience for consumers. The foodscape of how we shop for food, prepare food and consume food is constantly changing. Innovations in online shopping like AmazonFresh, meal kits and BOPUS can be driving factors in changing consumer food trends forever.

AmazonFresh

Grocery shopping can be time-consuming. So can prepping ingredients and preparing healthy meals. Let’s not even get started on the conversation on food waste due to bad menu planning. We don’t want to be eating out every night but we want to nourish ourselves well. So what do we do?

Online groceries and online menu planning services such as AmazonFresh, Hello Fresh and Gousto are here to cater to the way that shoppers are consuming food in 2019. By providing conveniently delivered groceries, alongside recipes and perfect portions, individuals are able to easily cook meals that suit their lifestyle without having to worry about finding soggy vegetables at the back of their refrigerators.

In its acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon has been able to open a new market for fresh groceries and food consumption. This not only drives sales but it’s also changing consumer food trends in a big way.

BOPUS (Buy Online Pick Up Instore)

Similar to AmazonFresh, BOPUS (Buy Online Pick Up Instore) is doing more than just providing an acronym that is fun to say aloud. BOPUS is driving sales through the convenience of shopping online but it is also increasing revenue as consumers will typically purchase another item in the physical store when they pick up their order.

Amazon is looking to establish themselves as a leader in online groceries ever since they acquired Whole Foods in 2017. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is even looking to open at least 12 new stores throughout the states. This is being done to accommodate the 2 hour delivery or pickup window for Amazon Prime users.

This lightning fast service is a game changer. As it will help contribute to a seamless link between online stores and physical brick and mortar locations. This simple switch between the two will help establish Amazon as one of the leaders at the forefront of the shoppable grocery experience online.

Final Thoughts

With the added convenience of being able to order groceries easily and conveniently, finding all the ingredients needed for a recipe is easier than ever. Discovering new recommended products and increasing online conversion go together better than peanut butter and jelly.

Maybe the Barefoot Contessa had it right when she said, ‘Store bought is fine.’

Do you want to learn more about making your brand instantly shoppable? Are you looking to increase your conversion by up to 20%? Or see an average basket size increase by 30%? Book a demo today with one of our head of brand partnerships for a quick demo on our solution!

About us

ChannelSight makes the world instantly shoppable and enables brands to grow online and offline sales. Our Where to Buy technology integrates with content across all digital channels helping customers jump straight to an approved retail partner to complete their purchase instantly. ChannelSight engineers a fast, frictionless buying journey for customers while giving you actionable marketing intelligence.